In this, our more recent song, we find the perfect aspect used in five different forms. Let take a look at three of them. (The other two will be addressed in the next lesson step.)
בִּלַּ֤ע — “he swallows”
דִּבֵּֽר — “[he] has spoken”
קִוִּ֥ינוּ — “we have waited”
First, note that, once again, the vowels of these perfects look a bit different than the form you have learned because they too are in the piel stem. As for their translations, דִּבֵּֽר and קִוִּ֥ינוּ present basically the same situation as we saw with הִלַּלְנוּ above and are translated identically in terms of tense.
However, בִּלַּ֤ע is different. We have translated it as a present stative fact, and most English translations translate it in the future tense: “he will swallow up.” This is a great example of how aspect is not the same as tense. In this prophetic promise, the action is still perfect—God swallowing up death is still viewed with completeness—but it is not an action that happened in the past as the context makes abundantly clear. Rather, you might say that this future promise is so certain that it is viewed as done, and that is why the perfect aspect was chosen.